Good Times Summer Series
Champions Amada Deblauw and EJ Hrynowski.
photo Yankee Timing

Last Call
Was A Ball

Over
the previous five years of the Good Times Series we have experienced some pretty
tumultuous conditions. We have had two so called "sixty-year"
floods. The first caused the only cancellation in our six year history while
the other required rerouting our course. And that's not even the worst of
it …..

At
the end of the rainbow is a gold Mylie.
photo Tom Hildreth

We have had heat
and humidity so bad that some of our participants experienced heat exhaustion
and had to make a trip to the hospital. We have had rain so intense that runners
had the opportunity to swim down the VFW Highway. And we have had a bridge closing
that caused us to run an alternative course for an entire year. So this year
with so much rain and thunder storm activity wouldn't you expect it to rank
as our worst year yet?

Well the law of
averages finally caught up to the Good Times Series. Despite all the incredible
storm activity the Good Times seemed to be enveloped in good weather. Out of the
18 weeks it only showered briefly on week 17 and that produced a spectacular
double rainbow across the course. The running conditions were magical. To understand
how terrific the running conditions were week-after-week all you need to do
is look at the number of course PR Mylies we awarded. Last year, we awarded
a record 600 Mylies, this year that number jumped to 900!

Last
Call
The best night for running was reserved for our final Good Times race of the
season. With dry and very cool conditions we had a 176 finishers - a record
for the last race of the season. When it was all over Stephen Gendron (16:03)
and Christie Fox (20:22) had won the battle and the race, but it was EJ Hrynowski
(Arlington, MA) and Amanda Deblauw (Newmarket, NH) who won the war. Congratulations
EJ and Amanda -- our 2008 Good Times Summer Series Champions. Congratulation
to all our winners. CLICK
HERE for a photo album from last evening.

We also had 55
runners earn Gold Mylies (New England's largest medal) for completing all eight
Good Time Summer Series' races - another record. Although we awarded over 900
of our World famous PR Mylie medals, sixty-three runners decided to wait until
the last night to earn one.

It
Is Volunteers That Make It Happen
We had over 3500 entrants during the 18 races in this year's Good Times Series.
From the responses I get from participants, I think it is fair to say it was
good experience for everyone. All this would not be possible without a great
volunteer group. Week-after-week our volunteers give up their Tuesday evenings
to make the sport of running better for the rest of us. So join me in giving
special thanks to Nancy Stronach who does about everything and anything that
is needed to keep things running smoothly at registration and the finish line.
She puts the "Good" in the Good Times. Thanks to our aid station and
course crew of Jim Stronach, Richie Blake and Tom Hildreth. They make sure everyone
has a safe and enjoyable race. Thanks to our terrific start/finish line team
of Glenn Stewart, Skip Cleaver and Stan Klem. They make sure that every runner
is accounted for and timed properly. Finally, special kudos goes to announcer
boy Dave LaBrode. It was nice to hear the ovation he received last evening.
Dave does more for the runners of the Merrimack Valley then anyone I know and
the recognition he received was well deserved.

Last
Word
Year six of the Good Times is now history. I want to thank everyone who participated
and helped make this our best year yet. The seventh season of the Good Times
Series kicks off on April 2, 2009 with our Opening Nite 5K. I hope you can join
us. Have a safe and enjoyable off season and, as always, we can't promise
you'll run a fast time, but we guarantee you'll have a Good Time at the Good
Times Series.